Month: November 2018

Sporting KC ties Real Salt Lake, 1-1, in first match of Western Conference semifinals

Top-seeded Sporting Kansas City opened the club’s 2018 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs campaign with a 1-1 road result at No. 6 seed Real Salt Lake on Sunday in the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Chilean international Diego Rubio scored the game-tying goal 39 seconds after entering the match as a second-half substitute in the 60th minute to send the home-and-away series back to Kansas City, Kansas, on level terms.

The decisive second leg between Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake on Sunday, Nov. 11, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, will take place at 2 p.m. and will be nationally televised on ESPN, Major League Soccer announced. A limited number of tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.

Playing in altitude amidst chilly conditions at Rio Tinto Stadium, Sporting Kansas City started strong on Sunday and nearly opened the scoring in the ninth minute with the first shot of the match.

Khiry Shelton’s right-footed effort from inside the penalty area forced a diving save from Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

The U.S. Men’s National Team veteran, now in the 13th postseason of his 19-year MLS career, was called into action again in the 24th minute and did well to push Felipe Gutierrez’s long-range strike over the crossbar.

The ensuing corner fell to Johnny Russell, who clipped the ball to the six-yard box where Roger Espinoza rose to meet the cross but directed his header off target.

On the opposite end, Sporting Kansas City — with Yohan Croizet making his first start at left back in place of the suspended Seth Sinovic — held the hosts to a single shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes as Tim Melia calmly collected Jefferson Savarino’s attempt from 25 yards out in the 22nd minute.

The scoreless first half — Sporting Kansas City’s sixth straight in the postseason dating back to the 2013 MLS Cup against Real Salt Lake — gave way to an entertaining start to the second half.

In the 51st minute, Real Salt Lake designated player Albert Rusnak combined with Damir Kreilach on a give-and-go at the top of the penalty area to set up a half volley for the breakthrough goal in skillful fashion.

The lead would be shortlived however as Sporting Kansas City responded through Rubio just nine minutes later.

Fresh off the bench, the 25-year-old Rubio covered 50 yards to apply pressure on three different Real Salt Lake players and put himself in prime position to recover a loose ball in the attacking third of the field when Gutierrez deflected a clearance by Rimando.

Rubio took two touches to his right and let loose a perfectly placed strike into the bottom corner of the net for an emphatic equalizer and potentially pivotal away goal in the series.

Of Rubio’s career-best nine goals this season, five have come in substitute appearances which is most of any player in MLS and comes as part of a season-long, team-wide trend. Sporting Kansas City has set a club record with 15 goals scored by substitutes across all competition this season, including a League-leading 13 goals off the bench in MLS matches.

Rubio also becomes only the second player in team history to score a game-tying goal in the MLS Cup Playoffs as a substitute and the first since Matt McKeon did so in the club’s postseason debut back in 1996.

Riding the shift in momentum, Sporting Kansas City soon threatened to take the lead on multiple occasions against a Real Salt Lake side playing on two days rest after producing a Knockout Round upset at LAFC on Thursday night.

Russell tested Rimando in the 64th minute with a dipping shot on target, then darted down the right wing six minutes later to set up Ilie Sanchez with a first-time effort that lifted high of the intended destination.

Russell would next deliver a teasing service into the box on a free kick in the 74th minute that resulted in a pair of scoring chances, the first disrupted by a superb save from Rimando to deny Graham Zusi and the second intercepted by a block from Chinedum Onuoha to keep out Espinoza’s follow-up.

Melia, the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and a former back-up to Rimando, ensured the scoreline would stand at 1-1 with the game’s final save in the 87th minute to confidently claim a curling right-footed strike from Aaron Herrera.

Next Sunday’s second leg, the fifth meeting of the season between Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake, will raise the stakes with a berth in the Western Conference Championship on the line. A victory for either side will send the winner on to play for the conference crown, while a second straight draw would bring the away goals tiebreaker into play.

– Story from Sporting KC

What’s at stake in Tuesday’s governor election

by Amy Jeffries, Kansas News Service

We’ve nearly arrived at a pivotal moment — the election that will determine whether Kansas continues rightward, returns to its traditional center, or starts down a new path.

My Fellow Kansans, http://www.kcur.org/programs/my-fellow-kansans, a podcast from the Kansas News Service, has been charting how Kansas got here and what’s at stake in Tuesday’s voting.

Nearly 30 years ago, the anti-abortion protests of the 1991 Summer of Mercy in Wichita energized conservatives and paved the way for the rise of Sam Brownback. As a U.S. senator, Brownback embodied the Christian right. But as governor, tax cuts headlined his red state agenda.

In 2018, the Republican nominee for governor, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, has declared his anti-abortion convictions, promised to double down on tax cuts and added immigration control to his “full-throttle” conservative mantle.

“He’s like a Trump man. He’s strong, he’s courageous, he will do what he says he’s going to do,” said Kobach supporter Paula Carr.

Kobach calls the Democrat in the race, state Sen. Laura Kelly, a “liberal.” Kelly categorically rejects that label. Yes, she steadfastly supports abortion rights and Medicaid expansion. She voted to end Brownback’s tax cut experiment. But she’s also voted for tax cuts during her time in the statehouse. And she sees herself as a consensus builder like famous Kansas pragmatists of both parties.

Kelly is relying on crossover support, and she’s got that from former Republican Gov. Bill Graves, “I have a pretty good grasp of the type of person she is,” Graves said. “And, knowing what the job entails … she just undoubtedly to me is … the individual we ought to put in that position.”

“When anything is going to happen in this country, it happens first in Kansas.”

Independent Greg Orman often repeats that 1922 quote from William Allen White — the Emporia Gazette editor known in his day as the “Sage of the Heartland.”

Orman, along with another independent on the ballot, Rick Kloos, argues that the current political system is broken. He wants Kansans to reclaim the state’s pioneering reputation by diverting from their allegiance to Republicans and Democrats.

My Fellow Kansans is a production of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR in Kansas City, KMUW in Wichita, Kansas Public Radio in Lawrence, and High Plains Public Radio in Garden City. The podcast is written and reported by Jim McLean, edited by Amy Jeffries, and mixed by Matthew Long-Middleton.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.
See more at http://www.kcur.org/post/my-fellow-kansans-pick-governor-add-history.

Rain in today’s forecast

National Weather Service graphic

Showers will move across the area today, but no hazardous weather is expected, according to the National Weather Service.

Rain is in today’s forecast, mainly before 1 p.m., the weather service said.

For Tuesday, Election Day, the forecast has changed slightly from last week to show a 30 percent chance of rain after noon, with a high near 58, according to the weather service.

Below normal temperatures are expected for the second half of the work week, the weather service said.

Rain and snow will be possible Thursday however, little to no accumulation is expected, according to the weather service.

In today’s forecast, the weather service said the high will be near 53, with rain mainly before 1 p.m. A southeast wind of 8 to 10 mph will become west southwest in the afternoon. Between a tenth and quarter-inch of rain is possible.

Tonight, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 40 and a west wind of 6 to 8 mph, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, there is a 30 percent chance of rain after noon, with a high near 58, the weather service said. A west wind of 3 to 6 mph is in the forecast. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain is expected.

Tuesday night, it will be mostly cloudy, then becoming mostly clear, with a low of 34, according to the weather service. There will be a calm wind, becoming north northwest 5 to 7 mph after midnight.

Wednesday, it will be sunny with a high near 47, the weather service said, and a north northwest wind of 6 to 8 mph.

Wednesday night, there is a 20 percent chance of rain and snow between midnight and 2 a.m., then a slight chance of snow after 2 a.m., according to weather service. The low will be around 32.

Thursday, there will be a 50 percent chance of rain and snow before 10 a.m., then a chance of rain between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., followed by a chance of rain and snow after 4 p.m., the weather service said. The high will be near 39.

Thursday night, it will be partly cloudy with a low of 27, according to the weather service.

Friday, it will be sunny with a high near 43, the weather service said.

Friday night, it will be mostly clear with a low of 23, according to the weather service.

Saturday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 44, the weather service said.

Saturday night, it will be mostly cloudy with a low of 31, according to the weather service.